ICE officer faces federal charges for lying over shooting of Venezuelan immigrant

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro gets into a car surrounded by news reporters moments after being released from the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center in Brownsville, Texas on Aug. 27, 2026. Michael Gonzalez/AP Photo hide caption

Federal prosecutors are charging an officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for lying to investigators about a shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minnesota earlier this year.

The criminal case is still under seal but was confirmed by a person not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation.

The charges represent a rare moment of the Justice Department seeking to hold immigration officers accountable for their actions and tactics while conducting arrests.

Christian Castro, the ICE officer, was in north Minneapolis in January as part of a broad immigration crackdown in the state known as Operation Metro Surge. Authorities say he fired his weapon through a closed door and shot Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, in the leg.

The Justice Department initially charged Sosa-Celis with assault, but later dropped the charges after acknowledging that the officers involved had made untruthful statements about the incident.

Immigration enforcement officers faced widespread bipartisan criticism for their behavior during that immigration surge, including the killings of two U.S. citizens.

Castro initially claimed under oath that Sosa-Celis attacked him, but surveillance footage contradicted his claim. Castro is separately facing state-level assault charges over the case in Minnesota.